Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,725 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,475 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.7% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

AAPL stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.53. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.39.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.